Art Institute

Artist LeRoy Neiman, known for his colorful and energetic paintings of sports events, and his wife are donating $5 million to the School of the Art Institute of Chicago for a new student center, the school announced today. Neiman is an alumnus and former faculty member of the school. The student center, which will be in the school's building at 37 S. Wabash Ave., will be named the LeRoy Neiman Center. It will house a lounge, a cafe and an art gallery, the school said. It also will...

Artist LeRoy Neiman, known for his colorful and energetic paintings of sports events, and his wife are donating $5 million to the School of the Art Institute of Chicago for a new student center, the school announced today. Neiman is an alumnus and former faculty member of the school. The student center, which will be in the school's building at 37 S. Wabash Ave., will be named the LeRoy Neiman Center. It will house a lounge, a cafe and an art gallery, the school said. It also will...

The Art Institute of Chicago opens it's new $300 million Modern Wing to the public this weekend. Visitors will be able to view many of the pieces in natural light as well as get to the museum via a pedestrian bridge linking it to Millennium Park.

Taking a fresh look at the high-profile crosswalk between Millennium Park and the Art institute of Chicago's Modern Wing, city officials say they may install signs at the crosswalk that would expressly tell drivers to stop for pedestrians. Read more from Blair Kamin in Cityscapes .

Justyna Palka was always the big sister when she traveled from Germany to visit friends in Chicago. She was the one who helped the other girls ride bicycles without training wheels. She brushed their hair before school, and taught them about make-up and doing their nails. "She would play with us. We grew up together" said Monika Moskal, 19, a family friend. "We considered each other as family. " Moskal was still trying to cope with the news that Palka was...

The winner of one of the world's most lucrative prizes awarded today for work “affirming life's spiritual dimension” comes to Chicago on Monday. Martin Rees, a theoretical astrophysicist who holds one of Cambridge University’s top academic posts and the honorary title of Astronomer Royal, was awarded the 2011 Templeton Prize on Wednesday, less than a week before coming to Chicago to speak at the School of the Art Institute . ...

Calling the Art Institute of Chicago's impending 50 percent admission fee increase a raw deal for taxpayers, a powerful Chicago alderman has threatened to cut off the museum's free city services, Clout Street reports . "They are making it almost impossible for the average Chicago citizen to take his or her family to view these Chicago treasures," said Ald. Ed Burke (14th).

Ramping up his campaign against the Art Institute of Chicago's pending 50-percent general admission increase, Ald. Ed Burke (14th) is trying to compel the museum to increase its free hours by enforcing an ordinance that is more than 100 years old. Burke said Monday that city lawyers believe the 1891 agreement between the Art Institute and Chicago remains valid even though the museum has long since moved to the Park District's jurisdiction....

The Art Institute of Chicago has laid off 22 employees, or 3 percent of its staff, as part of a larger series of cost-cutting measures. Spokeswoman Erin Hogan said Friday that the cuts were made across the board and take effect immediately. Employees were notified Thursday. "Of course we did everything we could to not go to this point," Hogan said. "All departments have for months been reducing their operating budgets. " Hogan added that new Modern Wing, which opened last month, "has been...

Ald. Ed Burke (14th), who flogged the Art Institute of Chicago for raising its admission price to $18, will undoubtedly be interested in checking out this post from Time's Richard Lacayo. So will art lovers the world over. In it, museum director James Cuno drops the idea that museum might some day start a fund drive to allow free admission now that it's opened the Renzo Piano-designed Modern Wing. Read more in Blair Kamin's Cityscapes blog on chicagotribune.com .

The Art Institute of Chicago is getting rid of its free Thursday evenings program in favor of a new Wednesday schedule to attract more local residents, according to a museum spokeswoman. Target Free Thursday Evenings -- when there is no admission charge from 5 to 8 p.m. -- will resume Feb. 10 and stop on May 26. After that, the first and second Wednesdays of each month will be free all day, starting June 1. The museum will still be open late on Thursdays but admission will be charged all day....

Dr. Margaret Burroughs, the principal founder of the DuSable Museum of African American History on Chicago's South Side, died today. She was 95. Dr. Margaret T. Burroughs (center) walks with Mayor Richard Daley through the Margaret T. Burroughs Gallery at the South Shore Cultural Center following the opening ribbon cutting ceremony for the gallery in February. (Heather Charles/ Chicago Tribune) Burroughs and her husband, Charles...

The two stone lions that guard the Art Institute of Chicago on Michigan Avenue will soon be wearing holiday wreaths again, but this year's wreaths will be a bit different. For starters, they will be solar-powered. And their designers, the husband-and-wife firm of Stephanie and Bruce Tharp, have given them a different look, too. They have combined the look of traditional North American cranberry wreaths with the spirit of Buddhist and Taoist wishing trees. The wreaths will be composed of...

Emily Heye, associate conservator of objects, uncovers the restored Chagall stained glass windows at their new location in the Art Institute Wednesday. The windows, which were removed five years ago for the construction of the Modern Wing, will open to the public on Nov. 1. (Michael Tercha/Chicago Tribune) After five years out of sight, one of the Art Institute of Chicago's most popular works is back. Belarusian artist Marc Chagall's "America Windows," dismantled in 2005 for safe...

Taking a fresh look at the high-profile crosswalk between Millennium Park and the Art institute of Chicago's Modern Wing, city officials say they may install signs at the crosswalk that would expressly tell drivers to stop for pedestrians. Read more from Blair Kamin in Cityscapes .

The two stone lions that guard the Art Institute of Chicago on Michigan Avenue will soon be wearing holiday wreaths again, but this year's wreaths will be a bit different. For starters, they will be solar-powered. And their designers, the husband-and-wife firm of Stephanie and Bruce Tharp, have given them a different look, too. They have combined the look of traditional North American cranberry wreaths with the spirit of Buddhist and Taoist wishing trees. The wreaths will be composed of...

As if Michigan Avenue weren't flooded enough with people attending the "The Oprah Winfrey Show" this afternoon , a building on the campus of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago was briefly evacuated when an electrical problem caused smoke to spread from a kitchen on the building's second floor. A fire extinguisher was successfully used on the door of a cooler that was experiencing the electrical mishap, eliminating the smoke. But as a precaution, building engineers...

Visitors walk in Griffin Court as the Modern Wing of the Art Institute of Chicago opens to members on May 12, 2009. (Zbigniew Bzdak/Chicago Tribune ) See more photos HERE. The Art Institute of Chicago is suing a London engineering firm for what it calls delays and shoddy engineering in its Modern Wing addition that opened last year. The lawsuit, filed Tuesday in federal court, cites $10 million in repairs and upgrades to the addition. Among the problems...

If asked to name the single most important arts and cultural institution in the Midwest, many would be hard-pressed to answer anything other than the Art Institute of Chicago. And were those who witnessed the Art Institute's rise to 21st century glory asked to give credit where it's due, the name on their lips would be James N. Wood. Mr. Wood was president of the Art Institute from 1980 to 2004, ushering in countless improvements during his tenure, most notably the museum's massive Modern...